


Where the Cold Wind Blows

by IcyAndTheFrostBites



Series: Icy's Carmen Sandiego Collection [1]
Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe, Characters Tagged As They Appear, No beta we write or die like men, What if the faculty decided that Black Sheep had to wait one more year before attending the academy?, What-If
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2020-01-11 04:47:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18423105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IcyAndTheFrostBites/pseuds/IcyAndTheFrostBites
Summary: One more year. They are giving her one more year before she can attend classes at V.I.L.E. Academy. She has to prove herself, first, however.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Heya! Well, I binged the entirety of the reboot after being prompted by several people to do so, loved what I saw, and started about five fics? (Most probably won't see the much life beyond my Google drive.)
> 
> I grew up watching not only _Where on Earth_ but also the game shows, _Where in the World_ and _Where in Time_. And playing a few of the old games for the computer way back in the day. 
> 
> This was, ultimately, the result of my own self-induced boredom on a Sunday night. (And drinking.) So, yeah. I'm honestly surprised no one has written this yet. And I'll be enlisting you kind folks for your assistance. I haven't written daily in a very long time (since high school about 10 years ago?), so ideas on what should happen in the next chapter will be appreciated.
> 
> So, the basic premise: Instead of the faculty agreeing to let Black Sheep join the class the first year she petitions to join, they're making her wait one more year.

“Wait,” Player said from his end of the cell phone, “so you **_live_ ** at this school, but you’re not a student there?”

Was… was that not normal? Black Sheep bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from speaking it aloud. She had had to keep back her life on Vile Island a secret, even from her closest friend.

“Not yet,” she said, digging her bare feet into the sand of the beach. Her toes curled into the fine grains, the sun-warmed sand finding every wrinkle and clinging there. “I’m too young. Everyone who comes here for the program has to be at least eighteen.”

Her thoughts drifted to the class that had just graduated that morning. She winced and, not for the first time, she was glad Player couldn’t see her.

“That seems like a dumb rule.”

A smile pulled at her lips as she looked out over the horizon. Only the sea was beyond their cove. The sea and the entire world, a world she had never known.

“Yeah, it is pretty dumb.”

“I mean,” he said, “you might be young –” Not that he was much older, from what she could tell from his voice. “– but any university would be lucky to have you.”

She hummed, not vocalizing her need to correct him. He couldn’t know the truth. V.I.L.E. Academy wasn’t like any other college or university in the world. Why would a school that specialized in training the best of the best thieves be an ordinary school?

Still, he had a point. V.I.L.E. would be **_very_ ** lucky to have her enrolled. In fact…

“Maybe,” she said, licking her lips as the idea took form. “Maybe they can make an exception.”

“Black Sheep, what are you thinking?”

“I think it’s time that I prove myself. I’m going to talk to the faculty.”

“Okay, keep me updated, will you?”

“Sure!”

“Break a leg.”

“What?”

“Never mind. It’s a good luck thing. I’ll explain later.”

“Talk to you in a few hours.”

“Bye!”

* * *

Finding Coach Brunt wasn’t too difficult. She was assisting the graduating class in their preparations for their first mission.

“Black Sheep?” Coach Brunt said when she saw her standing off to the side – only a few minutes after all the graduates were all aware of her presence.

“It’s fine,” Black Sheep said, holding up her hands. “I can wait for you to finish.”

Her mind trailed off to possibly going to find one of the other faculty member, but only Shadowsan would be unoccupied by students or graduates. And he, well, Black Sheep was fairly certain he didn’t really like her.

The mission, while the nuances were interesting, couldn’t entirely hold her attention. Her mind wandered to what she would be doing this time the next year – planning and plotting her own mission with her own peers. It would be _**soooooo** _much better.

She hadn’t even realized that they’d wrapped things up until Coach Brunt was standing in front of her. The larger woman crossed her arms and was frowning down at her. Though, her eyes held an unending softness whenever they looked at her.

“What’s wrong Black Sheep?” Coach Brunt said.

“Oh, um,” Black Sheep said, scuffing the toe of her shoe on the ground. She could feel the grains of sand shifting around inside her socks. “I, uh, I was hoping that you could, um, call a family meeting? I, uh, I want to discuss something with everyone?”

Coach Brunt arched a brow, the frown deepening.

“This is important?” she said, her voice soft.

“Very important.”

“Alright. Come to the faculty lounge in an hour.”

“Thank you, Coach.”

Coach Brunt gave a small smile and pulled Black Sheep in for a hug. Black Sheep, on her part, let it happen. It was best not to struggle. (It also popped those aching spots in her back that no amount of stretching seemed to.)

Black Sheep had only called a family meeting two other times – once when she was seven and once when she was fourteen (this was going by what Coach Brunt had told her). The first time when she was bored and in desperate need for entertainment (they said no to a computer but yes to a TV and expanded her personal library threefold). The second she tried to urge them to let he attend a school off the island (“Somewhere with snow,” she’d said, remembering all the TV shows and movies she’d seen over the years.) and they’d vetoed that faster than they had the computer.

At fifteen, she hoped they would appease her request.

An hour later found her striding down a long, dimly lit hallway to the faculty lounge. It was one of the lower levels of the academy and one of the most terrifying places Black Sheep could think up. It might be because she was forced down there so many times as a child to be reprimanded for one thing or another (though they’d never actively punished her save for one time when Dr. Bellum was in the experimental stage for a type of instant rice).

That and the atmosphere was similar to an evil lair from those Saturday morning cartoons she watched.

She approached the door and heard the whirling of the security camera above her as she waited for the doors to open for her. It took a moment, but the doors slid open with a snake-like hiss. Black Sheep stepped through and the doors closed behind her, sealing her in the room.

Ahead of her, she could see the five faculty members all sitting at a long table on a dais. On the floor was a hexagonal shaped version of Earth with V.I.L.E. written across it. She tred across it, feeling her heart stay put by the door.

She squared her shoulders and waited to be addressed before speaking.

Professor Gunnar Maelstrom spoke first.

“Black Sheep,” he said, folding his hands on the table in front of him, “why have you requested our audience?”

“I’m ready to enroll,” she said, attempting to keep the tremble from her voice. “I know that I’m technically not old enough, Professor, but I think that I have what it takes to be a great thief. The best ever!”

She gulped seeing the disapproving looks on Shadowsan and Professor Maelstrom’s faces. Countess Cleo rolled her eyes. Dr. Saira Bellum was, as always, unreadable. Coach Brunt was frowning again.

“In my opinion, sir,” Black Sheep said, a vain attempt to quell their worries.

After beat, another voice rose from the faculty.

“Black Sheep may be young,” Dr. Bellum said, stroking her chin, “but she has had more training at her age than any other recruit. Even if only being around the academy for so long.”

Black Sheep perked up at those words.

“Dr. Bellum’s right,” Coach Brunt said. “Little Black Sheep is ready to run with the big dogs.”

Countess Cleo scoffed, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair.

“I, for one, am not looking forward to dealing with Black Sheep’s lack of manners in a classroom setting,” she said.

“Yes,” Professor Maelstrom said, humming, “she is long overdue for some supervised training. Shadowsan, what do you think?”

Black Sheep clutched her hands together behind her back, trying to hide their shaking. While never untoward or unkind to her, he tended to avoid her at all costs.

Shadowsan sat at one end over the table, his dark eyes intense and boring holes into her. The wrinkles along his cheeks and around his eyes and forehead deepened with each passing moment.

“We train the best thieves in the world in these halls,” he said, enunciating every consonant with purpose. His tenor voice carrying up to the rafters in the near silent room, draping over to hang heavily as he spoke. “It is not a place for someone as undisciplined and unruly as Black Sheep. She is not ready to be one of the forty thieves.”

“Precisely,” Countess Cleo said. “If she were to show some improvement, well, maybe I would change my mind. As it stands, I’m voting no.”

“Now hold on,” Coach Brunt said, turning to look between Shadowsan and the countess, “we’ve never had such a strong case for advanced placement before. Black Sheep has already learned a great deal, and I have a strong feeling in my gut that she could be one of our star pupils. We should give her a chance.”

“And we shall, so long as she can show some improvement.”

“Improvement in what, exactly?” Dr. Bellum said. “Manners? Manners can only get you so far in life. I say we let her try, at the very least.”

“Shadowsan,” Professor Maestrom said, “what, besides her temperaments is keeping you from agreeing?”

“There are many things,” Shadowsan said. “But we all know that children do not belong in the academy, I do recall a certain professor saying as much when she was first brought here.”

Professor Maelstrom frowned and his eyes became distant.

“Yes,” Dr. Bellum said, “I do remember us all feeling that way when she first arrived, but we didn’t know what potential she would have at that time. Black Sheep has grown into a fine human and prospective recruit.”

“We do need to think of her psychological development compared to the rest of the students,” Shadowsan said. “They are at a different stage of life than she is. She should not be forced to endure them and they be forced to endure her more than anyone needs.”

“How about a compromise?” Professor Maelstrom said, shaking the memory from his mind. “One year. One year to improve on her manners and see how she grows. If she is serious, we will permit her to train with the best, if not, she will have to wait.”

“Wait just a moment,” Coach Brunt said, standing up from her chair. “If manners are all that’s holding her back –”

“Black Sheep is not ready emotionally or psychologically,” Shadowsan said, stabbing the table with his finger, “to train. Not yet. A year. I will agree to that.”

Black Sheep tried not to wince when he turned to look at her. When they all turned to look at her. She’d held her tongue from speaking back to them – that was what got her into taste testing the instant rice in the first place.

“Yes,” Professor Maelstrom said, nodding, “a year should be sufficient. I will vote for that. All in favor?”

Shadowsan, Professor Maelstrom, and Countess Cleo raised their hands. Dr. Bellum fiddled with her fingers for a moment before her hand was brought up as well. Coach Brunt said nothing. She scoffed and crossed her arms, dropping back into her chair.

“Agreed then,” Shadow said. “Black Sheep, you have one year to prove to us that you are ready to train and be a student at Vile Academy.”


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A passage of time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's never too soon for filler, yeah? 
> 
> I wrote the majority of this after work last night (between midnight and 2 am because what is sleep?), and I regret the not sleeping part because I am currently at work, will be here until 11:30 pm and have to drive home and come back by 6:30 am tomorrow. Hey, hey, kiddos? Adulting sucks. But money for cons and cosplays. 
> 
> (That and health care.)

Her phone buzzed inside the biggest matryoska doll not for the first time that hour. The doll rattled in place on the windowsill, the matching shadow on the floor moved with it.

Player.

With a huff she grabbed the doll and unlocked the phone (he’d told her to do that), seeing that she had far too many missed calls and texts from him. She didn’t want to know what her voicemail looked like.

She returned to her fetal position on her bed and called him back. It rang only once.

“Black Sheep?” he said, voice tense with concern. The next statement was tentative. “I’ve been trying to talk to you for three hours. How’d it go?”

“I didn’t get in,” she said, feeling her heart rise to her throat and stick there. It was starting to choke her. She was fairly certain that if she didn’t let this go soon, she was going to asphyxiate herself. That would be a way to go. Asphyxiation by anxiety.

“What?”

“Well, I did but I didn’t.” She took several deep breaths, counting down from ten in her mind. It only helped a little bit. Player waited patiently for her to continue. “They said I have to wait one more year and then they’ll let me, if I ‘improve’ or whatever that means.”

“Improve on what?”

“Manners, mostly. They think I’m not ready to be in a classroom, but I am! I know I am.”

“You’ve never been in a classroom?”

“Homeschooled, remember?”

“But you **_live_ ** at your school. That doesn’t really make sense. There’s no legitimate reason why you can’t attend a class or something.”

“I had far too many nannies to remember. They all homeschooled me. Pretty much in my own living room.”

She looked around her room. She’d spent far too much time in there and the yard just behind the faculty building.

“Huh, bummer.”

“I just… I just want to… I don’t know, you know?”

“Vaguely,” he said, though his tone sounded unsure.

“The new class comes in in a few weeks, and it sucks that I won’t be with them. Ugh. I don’t know what to do.”

“It can’t be that bad. Maybe you can make some new friends.”

She snorted and sat up.

“Yeah right,” she said, kicking at the blankets. She forced them down to the foot of her bed, feeling the cold sheets underneath. “Maybe Shadowsan is right, and I’m at a different stage of development from the rest of them.”

“How old did you say you were again.”

“Fifteen.” _I think_ , remained unspoken. How old was she, anyway? Really, she only had to go by what Coach Brunt had told her when she’d asked. (She’d also asked about her birthday, but the woman admitted she didn’t know. It’d been decided that it was the day she arrived on the island — August 7.) Besides, it felt right, maybe a year or so off, but not completely wrong.

“Huh,” Player said, “two years older than me.”

“Is that weird or something?”

“It can be for some people.”

“But not for us though, right?”

“Nah. We’re too cool for it to be weird.”

The corners of her mouth perked up at that, and she gave a soft laugh.

“Oh, good,” he said, “I made you laugh. One more year shouldn’t be so hard.”

“Nah,” she said, lying back down on her bed, “not with you around.”

* * *

The thing about cell phones, as Black Sheep soon learned, was that the battery tended to die after a while. She’d freaked out for a moment, trying to figure out why she couldn’t call Player or open the phone at all.

Thank goodness for the TV and Player. If he hadn’t introduced her to _Jessica Jones_ , she might not have ever figured out what to do.

She had had to nick a cord from Dr. Bellum’s lab when she had a moment. She wanted to laugh at the thought that she needed more training on pickpocketing things. She was, quite clearly, very good at it.

It was five weeks on and Dr. Bellum **_still_ ** had yet to notice the missing cord. Or, if she had, she hadn’t mentioned anything. Actually, knowing her, she might actually suspect that Black Sheep had contact with the outside world.

“How many more days until the next semester starts?” Player said when he called later that night. She could hear him move and toss something. Was he playing basketball? She didn’t think Player was the sports-type. Huh.

“Not too many,” she said, counting down until the start of the new term on her fingers. “Just three.”

“And then you have to start proving to the faculty that you’re ready.”

“I’ve already started. Kind of.”

“Yeah?”

“I’ve cut back on my pranks. I haven’t done anything to Vlad and Boris in over a week. It’s so… **_dull_ **. Any ideas on how to kill time?”

“Learn coding?”

“Ha ha.”

“What? It’s what I did.”

“I don’t think I have the brains for coding.”

“Don’t say that. You can’t even know because you haven’t tried.”

“Reading, writing, advanced mathematics – sure,” she said. “Languages, various customs from cultures, amd anthropological studies – I can handle that. Gymnastics and parkour – easy peasy. Coding? Definitely a no go.”

“Wait,” Player said, “where do you go to school again?”

“Oh, you know. Tropical, never snows. Private school.”

“What, somewhere in Hawaii?”

She grinned to herself. She honestly had no clue. Now, how to explain that to Player without giving it away?

* * *

The following three days passed by in a blur. Black Sheep had binged a few shows Player recommended to her. (She honestly didn’t understand how people could enjoy _Game of Thrones_ – it was way too violent. She preferred the cartoons.)

A handful of boats arrived at the docks, the new students dressed in khaki and olive green. Like a matching set of new dishes.

There were all sorts down there – cautious to cocky. She kind of wished Dr. Bellum hadn’t confiscated her slingshot so she could get one particular man whose whole demeanor was annoying her, even from a distance.

Black Sheep opened her window and listened as Coach Brunt addressed them. She couldn’t make out every word, but she caught the gist. They would be heading to the auditorium for the welcome speech, as they always did. Vlad and Boris would lead the way, as they always did. And then they would be shown their quarters after a short dinner.

A couple of people were looking around, one spotted her and stopped walking with the group – the particularly cocky man. The woman behind him bumped into his back. Her screeching could be heard from the window.

Black Sheep smiled.

“Next year,” she said, resting her chin in her hand. “Next year, I’ll be down there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GEE I WONDER WHO THAT COCKY DUDEBRO IS
> 
> It's Gray. It's totally Gray. I shouldn't have to say it, but it's him. And the screechy woman? Sheena. Again, shouldn't have to say.
> 
> So good news! [Just 20 minutes a day, you can de-stress by getting in contact with nature](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190404074915.htm)! 
> 
> *lies in the dirt and breathes in* N A T U R E
> 
> Anyway, I don't know if I'll have anything to post tomorrow (we'll see how tonight goes and how I feel in the morning). So, I'm aiming for Saturday for the next update. See you all then!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carmen makes a new friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I totally had time to write last night after I posted. Which is why I'm posting from work (again) this morning. I'm exhausted and ready to collapse, but I got off an hour earlier than I was scheduled after busting my tail working at the bar. 
> 
> I forgot to say it yesterday, but thank you for the kudos! :D The love is much appreciated.

Her legs and arms were totally starting to give. The once dull ache then steady burn was willing her to move, to do something other than stay in the same position in the air vents above Professor Maelstrom’s class. 

The term had started right on time.

Black Sheep was squeezing in as many classes as she could peek at from a distance, just to see what she could learn. (Why hadn’t she thought of this before?) So far, none of them had managed to catch her – though she thought Shadowsan suspected she sat in on his class two days ago.

Even from the vents she could tell who was and who wasn’t going to make it. Although, it was only day six. People could still surprise her. 

Just when she was ready to collapse or shift her stance, Professor Maelstrom called an end to the lesson and told them to get out. (In less polite words.) With the barrage of sound from below, Black Sheep heaved a sigh of relief and set her body down to relax.

Her limbs started to tingle painfully. Tears pricked at her eyes. And then the door just beneath her gave a little.

She jerked back up, to the protest of her arms and legs, and stared with wide-eyes into the blessedly –  **_blessedly_ ** – empty class. She gave a little sigh and relaxed again.

And then footsteps caught her attention. Dread sunk deep into the pits of her stomach as she waited to see who was still in the room. She prayed to every god and deity (and Spongebob because Player told her that that was a thing) that it wasn’t Professor Maelstrom.

It wasn’t. (Thankfully.)

It was one of the students. 

He walked slowly over to the ground just beneath the vent’s door. He picked something off the floor and rolled it between his fingers. He looked up, squinting his eyes as he tried to see through the grates in the vent.

She pushed herself further into the darkness, back pressed against the cold ceiling of the vent.

Apparently he didn’t see her – she thanked Spongebob for that – and headed out to his next class. He tossed the object that had fallen, caught it, and then pocketed it. His whistling trailed after him as he left.

“Okay,” she said to herself, “never lie down in the vents ever again. Bad things can happen.”

As quietly as she could, she crawled her way back to the faculty’s quarters. Before she could get there, she ran into someone. Literally. While she was still in the vents.

Their heads knocked together soundly, leaving them both to clutch at the sore spots. When she felt like she could look at the person, he was already looking at her.

“Who are you?” he said. He was not the man who’d stayed behind in the classroom, but he was new and unrecognizable. He was one of the new students.

“Shh!” she hissed, clamping a hand over his mouth. “They can’t know I’m in here. They’d ground me for sure. Ugh, don’t want to each instant rice again…”

“Who would what now?” He gently pried her hand off, blinking at her.

“Nevermind. How’d you get in here?”

“I found an opening and came in.”

“Don’t you have a class to go to?”

“Don’t you?” He squinted at her. “I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

“That’s because I don’t stand out. I’m kind of, you know, short?”

“No, it’s not that,” he said. He looked her up and down – or as best he could in the dim, cramped space. “You’re not a student here, are you?”

“No,” she said, “and if you tell anyone… Coach Brunt would kill you.”

That got his attention.

“Coach Brunt?”

“Yeah. She doesn’t want anyone outside of the faculty to know I’m here. So, zip the lip and I won’t tell anyone that you’re sneaking out of classes.”

“I was actually going to watch from a vent,” he said. “Too many people down there. It gets a little, I don’t know, claustrophobic?”

“And a vent isn’t claustrophobic?”

“You know what I mean.”

“Not really. I like being around people. It gets lonely here.” Wait, why was she telling him this? Why was she still speaking to him at all? She should just knock him out and move on. She was fairly certain she could squeeze past him.

“I’m Antonio,” he said, holding a hand out.

“Huh?”

“Antonio, that’s my name.”

“I… I get that, but huh?”

“What’s your name?”

“Black Sheep?”

“Black Sheep? What kind of name is that for a kid?”

“It’s the only one I’ve ever had,” she said, with a shrug – which probably looked as awkward as she felt.

“Well, Black Sheep, it’s nice to meet you.” He still had his hand outstretched towards her. “It’s called a handshake. You shake my hand with yours.”

“I know what a handshake is.” She reached her own hand out. Once, twice, thrice, and then she dropped it.

“Well, Black Sheep,” he said, “I need to head to class. You wouldn’t happen to know how to get to Shadowsan’s class, would you?”

“Go straight ahead, hang a left on the second bend. About half way, there’ll be a drop so watch out for that. After the drop, his class will be on the first right.”

“Thanks.” They somehow slipped by one another and parted ways. He stopped and called back to her. “Hey, Black Sheep?”

“Yeah?” she said, partially turning around.

“Hope to see you again soon!”

“You too!”

* * *

“Player, hey!” Black Sheep said, picking up the phone the moment it rang. “Guess what?”

“Chicken butt?” he said, his tone teasing and friendly.

She hopped back on her bed until she reached the wall. Even though the faculty building was air conditioned, the wall was warm. 

“No, I made a new friend. His name’s Antonio, and he doesn’t like being around too many people. He was crawling through the vents when I ran into him. He – hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.”

She frowned at the wilted sound of his voice.

“You’re still my number one, I hope you know that.”

“Yeah, but you get to see him every day, so…”

“Not really,” she said, picking at some fuzz on her duvet. “He’s in class most of the time. I’ll probably only see him once or twice a week at most.”

“More than you’ll ever see me.” He said it under his breath, but she still caught it.

“Player, you do realize that you’re my best friend, right? My first actual friend? When I can finally do some travelling, the first place I’m going to visit is Ontario. We’ll meet up at Niagara Falls and take lots of selfies. Just the two of us. Sound like a plan?”

He gave a little laugh.

“Yeah,” he said, “sounds like a plan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unexpected -- but totally canon -- friendships, Antonio and Black Sheep. Who will be next, I wonder?
> 
> No, seriously, who will be next? Ideas? Thoughts? Opinions? Questions? Comments? Concerns? Random string of letters that make no comprehensible sense but explicitly display excitement?
> 
> (Yeah, I'm totally tired.)
> 
> I'm going to try working on the next chapter, but I do like to hear feedback. Again, ideas are always welcome!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for some tea!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I... couldn't think of anything else to add between the last chapter and this one. :P
> 
> Most of this was written during my shift yesterday, with some touch-ups during today's shift. It's a little short for my liking, but when I'm writing everyday like I am, I can't seem to write long chapters. Ah well, something to work for.

About a week in to the semester, Black Sheep was called into Countess Cleo’s rooms for tea. Black Sheep  **_hated_ ** tea. Countess Cleo was well aware of that. (The last time she’d been invited for tea, she’d basically reenacted the Boston Tea Party – including dumping the tea into the harbor. Countess Cleo vowed to never invite her again, but it seemed that she changed her mind.)

The countess’s rooms was basically a fun house of doors and interconnecting rooms that always seemed to change. Her bedroom was a place Black Sheep never attempted to find – she’d honestly been too scared to – but she could easily find the tea room.

The tea room overlooked the harbor, which was stunning any time of the day. It always smelled of wood polish and jasmine.  Plush furniture the color of sunsets were calculatedly scattered about the room. A series of small tables was tucked into a corner with matching chairs. An instrumental piece was softly playing from a hidden sound system. It was from some opera, from what she could remember.

Countess Cleo – dressed immaculately in one of her absurd dresses – was perched on one of the chairs. She looked up when Black Sheep entered. She pursed her lips, but she didn’t comment on her appearance.

“Good to see you made it on time,” the countess said, setting her tea cup down on the matching saucer with a gentle clink.

Black Sheep bit back a retort. She didn’t want to sit through yet another rendition of the ‘on time speech.’ It wasn’t worth it. She actually put in the effort to arrive ahead of schedule. It worked… for the most part. 

“Please,” Countess Cleo said, waving her hand elegantly in front of her, “take a seat.”

Black Sheep took the chair opposite her and waited while the tea was pour for her. She could already smell the bitterness.

“Cream? Sugar?”

“Yes, please,” Black Sheep said, sitting on her hands. It was all a test. The countess wanted to see how she’d react. “Only two sugars.”

She caught a slight movement on the countess’s face, though it was easily rendered even in a moment later. She was please by the answer.

“So, tell me,” Countess Cleo said, “how have you been spending your days?”

“Reading, mostly,” she said, stirring the hot leaf juice, cream, and sugar concoction with her spoon. It shifted from dark water swirling with white to a nice wet sand color. “And watching the students when I have a moment.”

“Any books that might be of interest?”

Black Sheep shrugged, trying to summon some titles to the forefront of her brain. No such luck.

“Just some of my old textbooks – mostly geography and history.” She took a sip of the tea and bit back a wince at the taste. Yeah, even with cream and sugar it was still a horrible experience. She briefly toyed with the idea of Boston Tea Partying once again. She, begrudgingly, denied herself the fun and set the cup back down.

“And, tell me, what do you make of this year’s recruits?”

“From what I’ve seen from my window? They’re fairly average.” Really, they were. There were a few possibles, but she needed to actually see them in action and not just pay attention to the basic lesson on hand.

“No one stands out to you?”

“Not really. Why, should someone?”

“Hm, none that I can think of,” the countess said, drinking her tea. “Really, we’re just trying to get an outside opinion. The top forty students will be difficult to select this year.”

“You know, I could spy on them. Just a bit.”

“We are not being subjugated to your behaviors in our classes, Black Sheep. We’ve gone over this.” She set down her tea cup rather forcefully. Black Sheep was surprised she didn’t break the porcelain. 

“I never said anything about me being in class,” Black Sheep said, drinking a bit more of her tea. “I can blend in with them in between classes and in the dining hall and library. I look like a student, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

“That is,” Countess Cleo said, taking a moment to think over her next words, “an interesting proposal. I will have to talk it over with the rest of the faculty and see what they think.”

Black Sheep grinned, drinking a bit more of the tea. She made a face.

“Just remember, Black Sheep, you are not a student. You still have to prove to us that you are ready.”

“I know.”

Countess Cleo’s eyes narrowed and looked her up and down over the lip of her tea cup. Black Sheep dutifully took up her own again and drank the last of it. She was a little pleased with herself – mostly for finishing a cup of tea but also because she managed to impress the countess, if only slightly, with an idea.

She just hoped the other faculty members agreed to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I forgot a science fact for yesterday? Ha? Well, that's mostly because the science newsletters I get don't seem to put anything out on Fridays. Or Sundays. It's weird.
> 
> Anyway, [the powerhouse of the cell apparently has a power move](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190411145152.htm)? And it's a little terrifying?
> 
> As a tea loving adult, this chapter was a reflection onto my teenage self who loathed tea. And Boston Tea Partying was how I overthrew my family's one (and only) tea party. And how I got all of the cucumber sandwiches. All while wearing a white dress and heels.
> 
> I'm not allowed at tea parties any more. I'm a terrible influence on my cousin's kids.


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paint can be painful. So can falling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI?!?! 
> 
> Totally didn't forget to post, but after the latest ios update my phone has been having trouble staying connected to wifi. So, here's to hoping that they fix that soon. While I had to wait to get back to work (where I have an actual computer and not just my phone - though I probably could have gone to the library [whoops]), I managed to get some more writing done. There's this one and another little thing I wrote that I want to get out in the next few days or so. 
> 
> In between writing, I was watching _Where on Earth_ because my dad found out I'd watched the reboot three times and thought that it was already out on DVD. (Thanks, dad. You're trying.) 
> 
> I'm hoping for a bit of inspiration from there. We shall see soon enough!

Weekends didn’t exist during the school year, not for VILE Academy. It was a twenty-four hour, seven days a week kind of thing. Training wasn’t just training for a job, it was a lifelong pursuit – something Coach Brunt had imprinted in her mind a long time ago.

Dr. Bellum had long since rigged some training exercises (if they could honestly be called that) that sporadically went off to test reaction times and to keep the students on their toes. It made things interesting, to say the least.

Black Sheep had witnessed it a few times in person, though each varied greatly depending on time of day and class. Mostly, however, she’d seen it on video footage – this was because Dr. Bellum liked to startle people awake. It was one of those things she did to entertain herself. Like the cat videos.

She… didn’t really understand it. (And she wouldn’t openly admit it but, sometimes, it could be entertaining. More so when people weren’t grievously harmed.)

Dr. Bellum’s training exercise happened during Coach Brunt’s class two days after having tea with Countess Cleo. (Black Sheep still hadn’t heard anything on her possible spy work. She was starting to think she wouldn’t. It was too close to actually being in a class with them.)

Black Sheep was hiding out in the vents again, watching as the class was going over a few krav maga inspired self defense moves. (Ones she had almost managed to master those exact moves herself.) Only a handful of people had figured out how to duplicate them when the alarm sounded.

She jumped, knocking her head on the ceiling of the vent. Wincing and rubbing the tender spot, she watched through partially opened eyes as a red light flashed and spherical drones were discharged into the gym. The drones descended into the room from hidden passages and started shooting.

At first, she thought they were actually shooting bullets, but as she watched the bullets explode upon impact. Paintballs.

That… was going to leave marks. In more ways than one.

The paint was horrendously colorful, painful to look at as the flash red lights turned into the ordinary fluorescent ones. And some of it was glitter paint.

The man she’d run into – Antonio – was failing at not being hit, but then again it seemed as though he was taking the almost-but-not-actually bullets for another classmate. He was taller and much more slender than Antonio. They seemed close.

There was a little sting, knowing he had friends other than her, but a part of her was relieved. She wouldn’t have to explain to him why ‘Black Sheep’ was the only name she ever had.

Still, she couldn’t help but wonder who the other man was. The way they seemed to cling to one another was almost too intimate for a classroom setting. 

One of the women – a blonde – was faring the best out of the group. She was agile and as cat-like as a character from a superhero cartoon. 

She caught sight of the man who’d stayed behind in class what felt like ages ago attempting to bat a the paintballs with a bo staff. He wasn’t doing terribly – he did manage to get quite a few – but he still got hit, if the bright green sprayed across his cheek was any indication.

Quite a few of the other students were doing similar things, though they lacked his speed and endurance. A handful had found objects to act a shields to protect themselves – only two were defending others who couldn’t get their hands on anything.

Then there was the poor mime – why VILE accepted a mime into the school, she hadn’t the faintest. She hadn’t seen him display so many colors before. She felt a little bad for him. He looked like Waldo from those  _ Where’s Waldo? _ books had been dipped in a rainbow and splattered with glitter.

(Black Sheep was almost completely certain Dr. Bellum specifically targeted him with the glitter paint. She hoped it was biodegradable.)

The assault was beginning to slow down when one of the drones stopped right in front of the grate door to the vent. It turned to face her, a red light flickering as it scanned. The green light next to the scanner flickered when it stopped.

“Oh, no,” she said. Less than a beat later, paint was shot through the grating, and she flew backwards to avoid it. With great difficulty, she managed to wriggle around and start scampering down the vent. She didn’t get very far, however. The door for the next vent broke off beneath her hands. Her own momentum betrayed her and sent her tumbling towards the ground.

She heard a couple of surprised cries from some people before a heavy force collided with her before she could land. She and the person who caught her were sent rolling on the gym floor.

They stayed there for a moment, the commotion of Dr. Bellum’s exercise wrapping up as the whirring of the drones faded back up into their hidden passages. Above her, she felt her catcher jolt a few times as they were shot by the last of the paintballs before they rose off her.

The first thing she noticed was the bright green smear across his cheek and now sticking his hair flat to his head.

“You alright, mate?” he said, offering her a hand up. He had a weird accent – Australian. Huh.

“Um,” she said, taking his hand and allowing him to puller her to her feet, “yeah. I’m fine. Thanks, by the way.”

“Not a problem.”

“ **_Lambikins_ ** .”

Black Sheep winced, already expecting the impact of Coach Brunt’s hug. She felt herself hauled off her feet and heard a few joints pop as pressure was applied.

**_Ow_ ** . That had been worse than falling and being plowed into.

“Lambikins?” she heard someone sneer.

“You aren’t hurt, are you?” Coach Brunt said, setting her back down and looking her over.

“I’m okay,” she said, shifting at the sudden pressure of too many eyes focusing in on her. She scuffed her shoe on the ground, not meeting any of the eyes.

She caught movement off to her left. Antonio. He gave her a little wave, which she couldn’t really return without drawing too much more attention – she had a feeling he didn’t like it that much either.

“What were you even doing up there?”

“Er…” Spying? No, that would only get her into trouble. Coach Brunt would gently lay it on the other faculty members, but she couldn’t lie to save her life. Neither could Black Sheep. So, she went with the half truth. “Stealth training?”

“Stealth –” Coach Brunt cut herself off. She gave a huff and shook her head. “Alright, go into my office and we’ll talk things over.” She turned to look at the rather weary and battle-painted students, straightening her shoulders. “The rest of you, I want this place cleaned before lunch. You’ve got two hours.”

The class gave a groan, but they moved to find something to clean with. 

Black Sheep scuttled past them, to Coach Brunt’s office as quick as her feet could carry her. Still, she wasn’t quick enough to hear a few comments. One in particular stuck with her.

“Huh,” said the blonde, “didn’t think VILE was running a daycare center.”

Black Sheep quietly clicked the door shut behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, this chapter and the next were one big, thing but it got a little too lengthy with everything I wanted to add. So ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ two chapters.
> 
> [A Study is showing promising results that just thinking about coffee can get an individual ready for the day.](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190417111437.htm) I still prefer my iced coffee in the morning, but this would be fun to test out. *chugs the rest of it* Alrighty!
> 
> I'll be going and responding to comments after my lunch sometime today.


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coach Brunt and Black Sheep have a talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little later than I intended to post but here it is!
> 
> Things are pretty busy at work. We have a family reunion in, so they'll be occupying most of my attention the next few days. I'll try to get **_something_** up, but no promises. I didn't know how... needy these guys would be until they got in.
> 
> And I'll be working six days this week. So, yay! My feet and legs are going to die from standing and walking so much.

Coach Brunt’s office was fairly small, all things considered. Nothing more than a desk with four chairs, some filing cabinets, a water fountain, and an old punching bag sitting on a tattered chair tucked into the corner. 

Most of the filing cabinets had very little in them. The folders just had a list of names – most blacked out and new aliases penciled in. (Black Sheep knew, she’d gone digging in there quite a few times in the past.) There was a small potted plant by the only window in the room. The stems were wilting and parts of the leaves were starting to brown.

Black Sheep took a moment to fill the small watering can with the water fountain in the room to help out the small plant. She didn’t know if it would do anything, but it was something to do.

Coach Brunt’s voice was clipped and sharp through the door – a little more than normal when addressing the students –, her words muffled by the wood and frosted glass square in the center. Her shadow passed over the glass a few times before the woman entered.

She trudged around Black Sheep and her desk, falling heavily back into the rolling chair – which moved to softly tap the wall behind her. She scooted back under her desk, rubbing her temples. The bags under her eyes were a little more dark than normal, and her lips were thin and pinched. Her green hair was a little rumpled, as if she’d dragged her hands through it on more than one occasion.

“I think you’re going to give me gray hairs,” she said, voice soft, looking up at Black Sheep as she sat in the chair on the opposite side of the massive desk. Its surface was littered with stress balls, pens and pencils, schematics for… something. Her name plate sat directly in the middle – stickers from a long time ago faded and peeling but still not pulled off. Black Sheep could remember when she’d put them on there, back when she was six and could already pick locks.

(Coach Brunt hadn’t been happy about it at first, but she’d been proud that Black Sheep could reach the door handles and get in rooms. They just had to keep their keys out of her reach, and they were fine. Not much good it did when she was older, though.)

“Sorry,” Black Sheep said, giving a little shrug of her shoulders. She offered up a tentative smile in hopes of placating the stern talking to she was about to receive – one of the few she was ever likely to have. “I didn’t think the drones would find me. Or that the vent would collapse under me. We should probably look into securing those doors better. Maybe bring it up to Vlad and Boris? See what they can do? I’m sure they’re looking for something to keep them busy, because I’ve kept out of their way for quite a while…”

Coach Brunt gave her a look that normally would have made Black Sheep shirk back. It was probably the adrenaline still running through her veins, but it didn’t get her the way it used to.

“Lambikins,” she said, “do you really expect me to believe that you were just practicing your stealth?”

“Kind of?” Black Sheep gave her a timid smile. Coach Brunt sighed, pushing herself away from her desk. She stood up and slowly walked around while she spoke, until she was staring directly down at her. Even with her massive height, her drooped shoulders weren’t intimidating. It was a peculiar sight.

“You know, you remind me a bit of myself when I was your age. Rambunctious, wanting to be with the big kids, playing games I didn’t quite understand and having no one to explain them. I was never as… petite as you are, which can be frustrating. But we just want to make sure you’re not riding the bull before you’re ready.”

“...Huh?”

“Black Sheep,” Coach Brunt said, kneeling down in front of her, “lying isn’t going to help your situation. I know, clear as a morning on a July day, that you weren’t working on your stealth.”

“Oh.”

“You know I’m going to have to tell the rest of the faculty about this incident, correct?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“They might even push your enrollment back another year.”

“But –”

She was cut off by Coach Brunt. The woman held her hand up, looking like it would strike Black Sheep but not moving a millimeter. She would never hit her, however it didn’t stop the wince from making her jerk back. 

Coach Brunt saw this and lowered her hand almost immediately. She set her palm down on Black Sheep’s knee, warm though the fabric of her overalls.

“You’re going to have to find a way to make things right. Especially since you want to help us figure out who to pick from this round of recruits?” Coach Brunt cocked an eyebrow up. So the countess  **_had_ ** passed it along. Black Sheep was beginning to doubt that she had. “Shadowsan is already against you even attending. This could really work in his favor, you spying on the class and almost getting hurt during one of Dr. Bellum’s training exercises. You need to come up with an idea to persuade them that you’re serious about working for V.I.L.E.

“Lambikins, you’re incredibly smart and intuitive. I know you’ll come up with something. But, in the meantime, try to keep your stealth work out of the vents and away from active classrooms for the time being, alright?”

“Alright,” Black Sheep said, shoulders dropping from their tense position. She hadn’t realized it until the ache started to ebb in.

She guessed she would be calling Player later to see if he had any good ideas.

* * *

After the third time of her called going to voicemail when it had rung for almost a minute, Black Sheep let her hand fall to the side. She let out a heavy breath and closed her eyes. Okay, it was fine. She’d been on her own before.

Besides, Player was probably busy with homework or school or something. Maybe his mom or one of his tutors had forced him to put his phone away during their lessons, and he didn’t have access to it.

Yeah, that was probably it.

He would see that she had tried to call him and get back to he as soon as he could. There was nothing to worry about.

She would just have to come up with an idea all on her own.

She opened her eyes and squinted up at the ceiling. The setting sun was casting orange smears across the room and strange shadows danced along their path. 

She reached a hand up and saw a claw-like figure match it on the ceiling. It looked odd, distorted as it was. She mimed several different puppets, but none of them looked quite right.

She dropped her arm eventually, draping it across her eyes. She wondered if she stayed like that if she would fall asleep. Probably.

Black Sheep wasn’t sure how long she’d stayed like that but the next thing she knew the sky was almost black and spotted with stars. A sliver of the moon arched across a part of the sky.

And there was the laughing of voices from outside her window.

She shot up into a sitting position and peeked out as best she could, seeing a group of dark forms slinking through the along the deck below. She could barely make them out beyond counting how many there were – four of them.

They circled around the corner, into the foliage and underbrush on the side of the faculty’s quarters. One of them hesitated briefly before following after the others. 

Something sparked in the back of her mind, something that urged her to attempt to follow them.

She wouldn’t have the time to get down the stairs, so she did the next best thing: Climbed out one of the windows in Professor Maelstrom’s room.

(No, she was not going to question the taxidermied angler fish or the exhibition of a human fighting a big cat – she honestly didn’t  **_want_ ** to know. And she barely had time to register the life-sized chess set with skeletons dressed in various outfits that acted as the pieces.)

She reached out to the tree, just barely out of her reach. Biting her lip, she decided to chance it and leapt out the window. Her body hit the tree hard, knocking some of the air out of her. She clung there for just a moment before shimmying down and listening for the group.

She could hear them trudging – rather loudly – along some unknown path through the dense jungle. Their footfalls too heavy and uneven. Their voices carried, reverberating off everything before being swallowed by the green and the sounds of the night. 

She smiled and started off after them. It wouldn’t take long to catch up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have so many ideas. I am vibrating. 
> 
> That might be the soda. 
> 
> Send h e l p
> 
> Oh, wait. I have healthcare now. #ADULTING
> 
> And now to bed because I have to be up in a couple of hours.

**Author's Note:**

> In today's news: We have the very first ever [image of a black hole](https://www.google.com/search?q=First+Image+of+a+Black+Hole&hl=en&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiYz46mvMbhAhVHheAKHf1oCOYQ_AUICSgA&biw=1440&bih=757&dpr=)! I don't think many people will share my excitement about this, but it's super cool and pretty to look at. Click the link and see!
> 
> The title for this was inspired by "[In the Pines](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MkfTYPmLlA)" (or "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?"). It's a folk song that no one really knows the origins of, but can be traced back to the Southern Appalachian area. The Lead Belly version is the one that I linked to. Nirvana did a cover of it, but my favorite is by [Kimberose](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0GV3YhxmpI). The song doesn't really have much influence over the story, but I liked the line and made it the title.
> 
> As mentioned at the top, I haven't written daily in a very long time, so ideas for the next chapter will be appreciated. I have a vague idea, but I love hearing suggestions from others.


End file.
